CBT and GET The patients have their say

She was right! It would not have gotten anywhere due to your level of 'resistance'. I have tried very hard to reduce my resistance. I have tried to stop being sarcastic, for instance, as psychologists hate sarcasm - it is the number one sign of resistance. When I stop being sarcastic, I find I am much more open to suggestions from the psychologist, and much less stubborn. I even managed to overcome my false beliefs and tried to walk as commanded, but apparently there is one force more stubborn than false beliefs or sarcasm -- gravity! Gravity is a big problem for me, but I hope to overcome it in the future, working closely with a psychiatrist.

I would like to simplify all this with a Spanish magazine article that summarises the data...please be aware the article doesn't exist, I just may have dreamed that I read it and the Spanish is Anglo/Spanish

My experience is from a slightly different perspective. I have seen a number of psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers over the years, not for CFS, which I knew was clearly not a psychological condition, but for anxiety and depression. You'd think they'd be better at treating actual psychological conditions, but no, that was not my experience.

I was subjected to CBT, which I only found maddening, insulting and infuriating. The purpose of CBT is to correct mistaken beliefs and negative thought patterns that are exacerbating whatever mental or other anguish one might be experiencing.....

But my issue with CBT is that it is fundamentally condescending. I am a very logical person, and I don't have distorted beliefs. I am anxious and depressed because my life is damn difficult, thank you very much (in addition to CFS, I also have Asperger's Syndrome). I am also not easily persuaded or manipulated into changing my thinking, which, negative though it may be, is unfortunately accurate.

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Thank you for writing about your experience. I think in at least some cases, with some therapists, that CBT could be very very superficial and be sort of llike "Just put on your happy face and everything will be fine".

Another thing which I would worry about, which I mentioned in a post before is this (and this could happen to some extent even with a CBT therapist who did not adopt the usual CBT School/Psychiatric thoughts on ME/CFS):

Orla
Another problem with CBT is that the therapists might be a bit primed to be basically making judgements about the patient, because of the nature of the practice. I think they would be on the lookout for what they think are maladaptive/extreme/abnormal thinking and behaviours.

The therapist might have methods helpful for people with phobias etc. but unhelpful for people with ME/CFS. For example they might be really into goal setting and making oneself do things. This might be useful if someone has a phobia or something, but if the ME/CFS client does not do their "homework" the therapist might read this as either resistence, lack of motivation, or that the client is still sticking to their bad habits and need to be pushed.

But we know that an ME/CFS patient might not do something because they are too sick. This might be a very frequent occurence, so can look bad to the therapist as it looks like they are repeatedly avoiding things.

....the therapist might read all of this, perfectly reasonable behaviour (under the circumstances), as maladaptive and as evidence of resistance

Bee 33 wrote
Add to this the fact that I did mention to the therapists that I have CFS, and both of the ones I saw most recently actually told me that I was using it as an excuse to not deal with my life!!!!! These were well-meaing professionals, but this is what the psychological establishment believes.

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Oh God, if only these people had any idea what this was like.

Bee 33 wrote
I have never been subjected to GET. I did have a primary care doc, who knew I had CFS, tell me about ten years ago that I should exercise. I told her I already did a lot more exercise than I could handle just trying to get through the day, and she said point blank that exercising is always helpful. I was so incredulous I said, "Really? If you have the flu does it help to get up out of bed and exercise?"

From the Independent (UK Newspaper) 20th February 2010. I have put the best bit in bold. (For those outside the UK, CBT is the latest fad tool to be foisted on the population in general by the government.)

Not happy? You need therapy

The creation of "disorders" for the next generation is nothing new (Terence
Blacker, 17 February).

We are continually told that depression is increasing, and the Government,
along with its "happiness tsar", Lord Layard, has created and funded a huge
NHS programme under the umbrella of "Improving Access to Psychological
Therapies" (IAPT) to deal with it. Now everyone who feels depressed can
telephone a self-help line, speak to an IAPT "wellbeing adviser", and learn
how to get rid of their "negative thinking" with a spot of
cognitive-behavioural therapy.

Hopefully, the provision of such sticking-plaster "treatments", ensuring
that large numbers of people will be encouraged to attribute their depressed
feelings to "irrational thoughts" or "dysfunctional thinking", will distract
them from the appalling economic and political problems in this country that
have driven them into depression in the first place.